A TBCB subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has been assigned a project to augment the Davanagere pooling station in Karnataka, under the regulated tariff mechanism (RTM) framework.
Very recent, Central Transmission Utility of India Ltd (CTUIL) assigned the project termed as “Augmentation of transformation capacity by 1×500 MVA, 400/220kV ICT (9th) at Davanagere PS” to Powergrid Chitradurga Bellary REZ Transmission Ltd, a TBCB subsidiary of PGCIL, on RTM basis.
With an estimated cost of Rs.58.30 crore, the project has an envisaged completion date of 30 months from the date of award, which works out to around December 2028.
The Davanagere pooling station is an important transmission element for evacuation of RE power from Davanagere/Chitradurga REZ. It is part of several similar pooling stations – Koppal, Gadag, Bellary, Bijapur, etc – that are addressing evacuation from RE-rich zones in Karnataka.
When fully commissioned, the Davanagere PS is designed to have 12,000 MVA across the 765/400kV and 400/220kV voltage classes.
The build-up
The greenfield Davanagere PS is an important element of the ISTS-TBCB scheme housed under “Powergrid Chitradurga Bellary REZ Transmission Ltd” that PGCIL acquired in March 2025. Under this scheme, the Davanagere PS will have transformation capacity of 8,000 MVA distributed as 765/400kV, 4×1500 MVA and 400/220kV, 4×500 MVA. This PS is scheduled to commission by September 2027. As per latest CEA reports, land acquisition is currently underway with 52 acres out of the total 160 acres, acquired.
In September 2025, PGCIL won another ISTS-TBCB scheme housed under Powergrid Davanagere Augmentation Transmission Ltd, which, among other things, entailed enhancement of the Davanagere PS by 765/400kV, 1×1500 MVA and 400/220kV, 4×500 MVA. This project, currently in early stages, will increase the pooling station’s transformation capacity by 3,500 MVA to 11,500 MVA. The scheduled commissioning date of this project is September 2027, coterminous with the greenfield project.
The RTM project newly awarded to Powergrid Chitradurga Bellary REZ Transmission Ltd will add another 500 MVA of transformation capacity at 400/220kV, taking the total capacity to 12,000 MVA. This will be distributed across 14 interconnecting transformers (ICT) as 765/400kV, 5×1500 MVA and 400/220kV, 9×500 MVA.
Cost escalation
It may be noted that the indicated project cost, at Rs.58.30 crore, is estimated by CTUIL based on January 2026 price level. As agreed in a meeting of National Committee on Transmission (NCT) in January 2025, if there is more than 10 per cent variation in the project cost estimated by CTUIL, the selected developer — Powergrid Chitradurga Bellary REZ Transmission Ltd, in this case – needs to bring it to CTUIL’s notice, with supporting documents, within 30 days from the date of allocation of the scheme.
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